Like mother like daughter
by janayqteepi3
Summary: Demeter discovers an interesting development in her granddaughter Makaria's relationship with a certain god of death


The garden directly behind Demeter's palace on Mount Olympus was her favorite. The tall, lush hedges surrounded it entirely. In front of the hedges, Persephone had planted beds of Hyacinths and Wild Orchids. There was a cold, stone bench placed strategically in each of the four corners. The pond, filled with vibrant green lily pads, was in the center of the garden surrounded by six tall stone columns with vines wrapped around them. In the south east corner of the garden, between the pond and the stone bench, there was a beautiful table that Hephaestus had built for her.

Today, Demeter was sitting at that table with her daughter Persephone and her granddaughter Makaria. It was no secret that Demeter despised that horrid creature her daughter married. The couple had three children and Demeter's hatred extended to Melinoe and Zagreus as they were constant reminders of their father Hades. Makaria was different. Yes, she was a goddess of death, but she was also the spitting image of Persephone. The only difference between the two was that Makaria was slightly paler with slightly darker hair.

When Makaria was younger, she would spend six months of each year in the above world just like Persephone. Everything changed when Makaria reached maturity and became the Goddess of Blessed Death. Unfortunately, the gods are problematic which meant there was always a war or famine which meant she rarely had time to visit her grandmother. Although Makaria could no longer spend six months in the above world, she made sure to accompany her mother every year and spend the day chatting with her grandmother. Everything was peaceful until Demeter sensed someone entering her garden. Her eyes landed on a voluptuous woman with long auburn hair and near perfect features. "Aphrodite" she growled in her head.

"What do you want?" she barked at the meddlesome love goddess. Persephone and Makaria were startled by Demeter's sudden outburst. When Persephone saw Aphrodite she too was irritated. Everyone knew Aphrodite never approached anyone simply for friendly chat. Drama followed that woman like violence followed her boyfriend. Persephone looked to her left and found her daughter looking nervously at the ground. At that moment, it was clear that Makaria had an idea as to why Aphrodite was visiting. The only question was, what had Makaria done to draw Aphrodite's attention?

Across the garden, Aphrodite's eyes got big as if she truly had no idea what would warrant such a reaction. "Now Dem, is that anyway to treat a guest" she answered in a tone one uses for a child. Before Demeter could use the grass to choke the life out of the woman, Persephone diffused the situation by offering the love goddess a seat at their table. Persephone glared at her mother and mouthed "behave".

"It truly is a magnificent garden Dem" Aphrodite stated as she took her seat. Demeter was about to let respect her daughter's wish and treat the love goddess respectfully until she added "It makes me wonder why nobody wants to visit you."

Makaria gasped in shock. She had never met the love goddess before but had always imagined Aphrodite was nothing but kind and sweet. Demeter chuckled lightly and began fixing her skirts. "And it's a wonder how you've bedded every man that's walks but still have a working..."

"Mother" Persephone interrupted. She had just buried the hatchet with Aphrodite regarding Adonis. The last thing Persephone wanted to do was start more trouble.

Aphrodite waved her hand nonchalantly. "It's no big deal Seph, I did start it after all. But that aside I actually came to talk to her." At that moment, Aphrodite turned to her right and looked straight at Makaria.

Demeter scowled. It was never great when Aphrodite began paying attention to someone. Aphrodite was known to complicate people's love lives for either her amusement or to satisfy her jealous rage. There were however rare instances when the love goddess would simply admire a love from afar. Demeter didn't even like that outcome. After all, she had always hoped that her granddaughter would live as an eternal virgin unlike that wayward mother of hers.

Makaria blushed. "Yes, Lady Aphrodite."

"Call me Aph" Aphrodite requested.

"Okay" Makaria replied shyly.

"Don't you have some innocent mortal to torment. Why are you bothering my granddaughter"?

Persephone turned to find her mother seething. She didn't like Aphrodite's interest in Makaria's life either but desperately wanted to know more about her daughter's personal life. Aphrodite simply shrugged. "Now Dem" she replied "no need to be snippy. Can't I just congratulate the girl on her first kiss."

"What" Demeter and Persephone shrieked at the same time. Demeter turned to find her daughter practically jumping up and down in her seat in excitement. "Of course she would condone this behavior" she thought while rolling her eyes.

"With who?" Persephone asked way too excitedly for Demeter's taste. Persephone gasped. "Was it with him?" She and Melinoe had known that Makaria had a crush on Thanatos for a while now. They just never expected anything to happen.

"Him. Who is this him and what is he to my darling Makaria?" Demeter snapped. The three girls ignored a fuming Demeter and continued with their conversation.

"It's not a big deal." Makaria replied while nervously twirling her hair "We were talking and I don't know I just kissed him. It felt right at the time but it's not a big deal. I mean you know how Thanatos is about these sorts of things he probably doesn't even care." By the end of her speech, tears had gathered in the corners of Makaria's eyes.

"Thanatos. As in the god of death!" Demeter yelled

"Are you kidding me?" Aphrodite answered "The man is crazy about you. He's just not good with people and doesn't know what to do."

"Really?" Makaria wondered "Are you sure?"

"God of Death" Demeter yelled "Really?! Out of all the gods"

"Okay maybe crazy about you is an exaggeration but he does have feelings for you"

"And that's huge for him" Persephone added while completely ignoring her mother

"She was supposed to be different" Demeter wailed "She was supposed to take the virgin oath"

"Well what should I do?" Makaria asked the love goddess, "Should I wait for him to do something? Should I tell father?"

"If you wait for him to make a move you'll be waiting for eternity" Aphrodite pointed out

"And what your father doesn't know won't kill him" Persephone said while handing her wailing mother a handkerchief.

"Him!" Demeter screamed while throwing the handkerchief on the table "Her father. If he wasn't the god of the dead none of this would have happened." Demeter suddenly calmed as if she had come to an epiphany. "He's the god of the dead. He could... yes, yes that might just work"

The three ladies completely ignored Demeter's rambling and began brainstorming ideas on how to get Thanatos's attention. After half an hour Persephone realized she hadn't heard her mother in a while. She turned to find her mother's chair empty.

"Did you ladies see where my mother went?"

Aphrodite and Makaria both turned around. Makaria shrugged while Aphrodite nonchalantly remarked "she mumbled something about your husband and left. Now as I was saying subtle flirtation over time is …"

Persephone paled and tuned out the conversation as she debated whether to run after her deranged mother. On one hand, her mother would wreak havoc in the underworld while on the other hand, a few hours away from the woman sounded blissful. Persephone decided to stay. "Hades can handle his sister" she thought to herself.

In the underworld, Hades was extremely busy. Whenever his wife left to the above world, Hades would work to take his mind off the pain of her leaving. This year was no different. He was currently reviewing the applications of souls petitioning for rebirth with Thanatos and his son Zagreus when he heard shouting outside of his office. They immediately recognized the voices as belonging to Melinoe and Demeter.

"Hades!"

"For the last time, your shouting is disrupting the souls"

Hades sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with his sister Demeter today. He silently prayed that his daughter Melinoe could handle the situation on her own. "Should we continue father?" Zagreus asked.

"I demand you take me to your father"

"And I demand you change your tone"

"No" Hades answered. "Unfortunately, your grandmother has made it her life's mission to make mine as miserable as possible." Hades stood up and walked out of his office and into the throne room with Thanatos and Zagreus following closely behind.

"I will ask you one more time. Where is he?" Demeter shouted

Melinoe turned around and began admiring a vase filled with Narcissus flowers. "For a woman who starved humans to spend more time with her daughter you sure are spending a great deal of time in the underworld looking for my father?"

Demeter took a step towards Melinoe and screeched "I asked a question and I demand an answer!"

"And I don't care!"

Demeter slapped Melinoe with the back of her hand. "I am your grandmother and an Olympian. You will respect me!"

"Slap me again and I swear to the gods…"

Before the fight could get any worse, Hades interrupted by screaming "What is going on here"

When Demeter turned in his direction it seemed like she became even more furious. At first, he began to wonder what he could have done to anger her this time. But then, Hades realized that Demeter wasn't glaring at him. He followed her line of sight to discover she was looking at Thanatos. Thanatos was glaring back at her just as hard, with one hand around his scythe. The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours until Demeter finally broke the silence.

"You tainted my granddaughter" she whispered in an icy tone. Hades eyebrows shot up in confusion. The only granddaughter she cared about was Makaria. "What does he have to do with Makaria?" he wondered.

"I am confused as to what you mean?" Thanatos replied. Most people would assume that Thanatos was expressionless, but Hades knew Thanatos. He probably knew the death god better than he knew his own brothers. He could tell that the god of death was nervous about something, but what did he have to be nervous about.

"She wasn't supposed to know desire. She was supposed to take the virgin oath but she won't now that you've ruined her!"

"Desire?" Hades asked looking at Demeter with a confused expression on his face.

"And you" Demeter said turning and looking straight at Hades.

"Me?" he replied. "What do I have to do with any of this"

"Yes, you. This is your fault too. Had you not corrupted my Kore my granddaughter wouldn't be a goddess of blessed death who apparently kisses death himself in her spare time."

"What?" Hades and Zagreus said at the same time. Hades spun around to face Thanatos. You see, Hades knew Thanatos. Probably better than he knew his own brothers. In that moment, he could tell that Thanatos was nervous. He wasn't nervous about Demeter. He was most likely nervous about how one of his closest friends would react to news that he had kissed their daughter.

"It was only one and she kissed me" Thanatos said while looking Hades in the eye. Hades then shrugged. He never made inquiries into his children's love lives and he wasn't about to start now.

"If that is all Demeter, I must get back to work?"

"You're okay with this?" she asked. Hades looked around to see that everyone in the room was shocked that he hadn't reacted to the news. He sighed.

"I don't care who my children are with as long as it's not Apollo or Hebe." Hades answered honestly. When he saw the confused looks on his children's faces, he explained. "They're too happy and nice"

Demeter looked defeated. She had been hoping that Hades would unleash his legendary temper on Thanatos once he found out. When she realized that wouldn't happen, she slowly turned around and made her way back to the above world. "My daughter married a mad man" 


End file.
